The subject matter described herein relates generally to liquid ring turbines, and more specifically, to apparatus, systems, and methods for increasing the efficiency of the liquid ring turbine.
Some known liquid ring expanders include an impeller having vanes mounted thereon, where the impeller is mounted eccentrically in a casing. A liquid is present in the casing and is cast against an outer wall of the casing as a result of the centrifugal forces generated by rotation of the impeller. The volume of the liquid is less than the volume of the casing, thereby enabling the liquid to form a liquid ring within the casing. The liquid ring interacts with the vanes of the impeller to form expansion chambers bounded by two adjacent vanes and the liquid ring. Due to the eccentric location of the impeller in the casing, the volume of the expansion chambers progressively increases in the direction of rotation of the impeller, enabling an injected gas to expand in the expansions chambers and rotate the impeller.
In operation, in some know liquid ring expanders a high pressure gas is injected into a gas inlet corresponding to a small volume of the expansion chambers. The high pressure gas impacts the impeller vanes, causing the impeller to rotate. Due to the eccentric rotation of the impeller, the expansion chamber increases in volume and the high pressure gas expands. As the gas expands, its pressure and temperature decrease. The expanded gas is then channeled out of the liquid ring expander through a gas outlet corresponding to a large volume of the expansion chambers.
At least some known liquid ring expanders include straight radially extending vanes on the impeller. In addition, some known liquid ring expanders include rotating casings due to the friction between the fluid and a fixed casing being prohibitive to obtaining reasonable efficiency. Furthermore, in some known liquid ring turbines, the interactions between the liquid ring, the impeller vanes, and the compressed gas, results in decreased efficiency of the liquid ring turbine.